Help SUDS win a $10,000 Award from Toyota

[HowardE]

SUDS has been selected to take part in the Toyota Halftime Handoff, a program that selects one charity a week to receive $10000. Voting is now open and will continue till Tuesday at midnight.

On this coming Sunday Night Football (Oct 16, 2011), they will show a 15 second blurb about the 4 charities for the week. People are then asked to vote for the charity they want to win on Toyota's Facebook page. If we win our week, we will receive the $10K and they will show a 90 second spot the following week. This could be some pretty great publicity for SUDS!!!

Starting today we can begin to push our participation on Facebook, newsletter, Twitter, etc. Please help us spread the word and share the link with all YOUR family and friends.

Thanks for all your support and for all your votes !!

The link and the original press release from Toyota will provide more detail about the program.


Toyota USA - Welcome | Facebook "Toyota to Award Donations During NBC Sunday Night Football Halftime Show Based on Public Vote
TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota today announced its "Halftime Hand Off: A Rally for Causes" program airing on the NBC Sunday Night Football halftime show, which will award a total of $150,000 to deserving sports-related nonprofit organizations based on public vote. Carrying on the philanthropic spirit of the 100 Cars for Good and Ideas for Good programs, Toyota's latest community effort is designed to aid organizations that use sports as a vehicle for change.
"The Halftime Hand Off program continues Toyota's commitment to the community," said Bill Fay, group vice president of marketing for Toyota. "We look forward to recognizing the efforts of many deserving organizations and supporting them as they strive to change the world."
To familiarize the public with Toyota's previous community involvement, the past three halftime show segments have focused on the 100 Cars for Good (Sept. 8) and Ideas for Good (Sept. 11 and 18) initiatives. From there, an introductory video running during the September 25 halftime show will direct fans to the Toyota Facebook page to cast votes for deserving non-professional sports associations and sports-related charities.

Toyota, in partnership with Causes.com, will pre-select eligible non-profit organizations to participate in the Halftime Hand Off program. Each week, four organizations will be profiled on the Toyota Facebook page and fans may vote for the charity they feel is most deserving of support. The organization receiving the most votes each week will receive a $10,000 donation from Toyota and will be featured during the following week's halftime show segment.
Public voting begins on September 21 and will continue throughout the 2011 NFL season. Voters may cast one vote per day per voting cycle. Voting is limited to U.S. residents only. To learn more about the Toyota Halftime Hand Off, visit www.facebook.com/toyota."

[HowardE]

Thanks to everyone who voted for SUDS. SUDS won a $10,000 donation from Toyota! Woo Hoo!

[Chatterton]

John Thompson is a great guy, and a good friend of mine. He started SUDS, an organization that challenges seriously injured veterans with scuba diving. Before he even started SUDS, he was working with injured veterans and getting them in the water, because he thought it helped them, and it was the right thing to do. He used his own equipment, and his own money. He started SUDS to reach more veterans.

John and SUDS make a difference, and they represent the best in our diving community. SUDS just won the Toyota Halftime Handoff for small charities, and that means money for them to do what they do. They won because divers like us told Toyota that SUDS matters. Thanks to those of you that voted, thanks to Toyota, thanks to John Thompson, and special thanks to all of our American veterans, as well as those still in uniform.

[Brian Pasic]

Very good, thanks for everything your doing. Best of luck!